Descendant of residential school principal brings U.S. students to Manitoba on journey of discovery

When a University of Wisconsin professor discovered her grandfather was a residential school principal she went on a journey searching for truth and reconciliation.

Kirsten Lindbloom grew up in Portage la Prairie, about 85 kilometres west of Winnipeg, knowing that her grandfather William Warren was a principal and that there was a former residential school in the city. She learned about her family's connection to the facility during a casual conversation. 

"It took the air out of my breath," Lindbloom said. "I knew what that meant in a way that I'd never understood it before."

Her grandfather was the principal of Portage Indian Residential School in 1958. This knowledge led Lindbloom to connect with the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada located in the former school. 

The collaboration culminated in the University of Wisconsin course "Canada's First Nations Truth and Reconciliation," which saw seven students explore Manitoba over 10 days learning about the history of Indigenous people in Canada.

They spent Wednesday creating a community Healing Garden at the museum as a way to build relationships and live out reconciliation.

"We don't talk about it in the States. And so oftentimes students are hearing about the boarding schools for the first time in college. It's not uncommon," Lindbloom said. "These kids want to go home and help ... they're talking about how we can take what we're learning back to the university, how we can expand what we're doing there."

Understanding the trauma of residential schools

Dennis Meeches, of Long Plain First Nation, is chairperson of the residential school museum. He says seeing the university students has been powerful and showcases the growing international interest in residential schools. 

"Their presence here is part of reconciliation," Meeches said.

The Portage Residential School opened in 1915 and ran until 1975. It was one of 17 residential schools in Manitoba. An estimated 150,000 children from First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities attended these residential schools. 

Meeches has many family members who were forced to attend Portage Residential school — including his mother Dorothy Meeches.

"She ran away from the school with a few of her friends," Meeches said.

Dorothy wanted to escape home to Long Plain Nation but was caught.

Her head was shaved as punishment. 

She and her friends tried to use paper bags to hide their shaved heads, but they were removed by the school administrators. 

"They were quite ashamed of what happened to them," Meeches said.

His uncle Norman Peters almost died at the facility. Peters was very sick in Grade 2 and staff left him outside because they thought he would not live through the night. A friend tended to him, nursing him back to health.

"They're such heart-wrenching stories, but at the same time stories of resilience and hope ... they needed to get through this, survive this experience," Meeches said. "You think about the trauma that our people went through, intergenerational trauma and how it affected … family lines."

Residential schools, by design, were intended to destroy and take away Indigenous language, culture and customs, Meeches said. To this day, they still face challenges with racism.

He has hope for the future because the next generation is learning about truth and reconciliation through actions — like the journey the students from Wisconsin are on.

Students heard from survivors, had a detailed tour of the museum and participated in activities. The goal was to learn  about the culture and history to understand the ongoing impacts of residential schools.

"For us to go forward, in order for us to heal, we've got to understand the truth," Lindbloom said. "We can't just wipe those stories to the side or hide them."

Hard truths and healing

While there are efforts for truth and reconciliation in the United States they are not as expansive or as significant as what Canada is doing, Lindbloom said.

"There aren't people sharing those stories. We don't have the living memory," she said. "I think it's hard, to tell the truth … when you don't have the living memory."

She said the trip is a catalyst to talk about the history in the United States and Canada, while also learning what makes these experiences different in each country.

Elementary education major Julia Sylvester said students were transformed by the trip.

While she had read books and done academic studies she said it was incredible to learn about residential schools firsthand from survivors.

"Having that impact of someone telling their story is just a whole different side," Sylvester said. "I would love to be able to use these stories and say that I have met someone and had these experiences and bring it back to educate not only kids, but the people I know ... in Wisconsin."